Mites?

[dolliebuns]

Hi y’all!

It’s been a little over a week since I’ve gotten my bun (her name is Dahlia/Dollie; she’s a holland lop a little over 9 weeks old right now as she was born on January 22nd of this year) and it seems like she has mites??? I’m unsure if it really is mites or not because she won’t let me look into her ears and when I tried, it looked like there were small scabs in there but I’m also not sure if I was seeing things correctly because she doesn’t sit still for long. Things I’ve noticed though is that she scratches at her ears and head a lot and seems to overgroom herself, or bite??? at her skin??? And then she also shakes her head a lot (unsure if these are binkies or not though because she does this in the midst of zooming and jumping around, but they don’t look like full binkies so I assume she’s shaking her head) and as of yesterday, I found scabs around the skin of her neck. I think she’s also been losing fur there because the pink of her skin is now exposed and I swear it wasn’t when I first got her. I’ve already scheduled an appointment with the vet, but they said the earliest they can get her in is next Thursday and it’s really stressing me out because?? that’s way too long of a wait. I don’t want her symptoms to worsen??? That said, is there anything I can do at home in the meantime to try to solve it myself or at least treat it a little to keep it at bay? I still have her vet appointment set in stone so if not, I know she’ll eventually get the treatment she needs and will get better, but again, I don’t want it to worsen because it seems to be worsening fast and I don’t want to wait until next Thursday to finally do something about it. I clean her area daily already (with a couple of days in between litter changes since I’m using pine pellets for her and since we’re still litter training, but I do spot clean it daily) but it doesn’t seem to be alleviating her symptoms much, if at all.

also noticed her scratching at her ears the day I got her last week but I didn’t act on it because 1. her seller had shown me that her ears were clean during purchase? and yet she was itching that same day too after I got her home, so I thought I was just being overdramatic and imagining things & 2. my mom said she didn’t want to “waste time and money” going to the vet over it when Dollie’s ears were already seemingly clean (as shown by her seller). We have no other pets or rabbits in the house and we use a mix of small pet select timothy hay and the timothy hay the seller provided us with, so I’m unsure where she got it from unless there’s mites present in her hay or she already had it at time of purchase (which is the possibility I’m leaning towards since symptoms were showing on day 1). So, she may have had mites for a week already now (or longer) if I’m on the right track. I feel so bad that I didn’t set an appointment when I first saw. Also, sorry for rambling so much guys. I just wanted to get as much detail in as I could.

tldr: Dollie (9 week old holland lop female) is showing symptoms of mites, or at least ear and skin irritation with the presence of small scabs around her neck, and I was wondering if there’s anything I can do to help treat it at home since her earliest vet appointment is 9 days from now.

[LBJ10]

Considering her age and the fact that you just brought her home, it isn’t a bad idea to have a wellness check anyway. I don’t know where you got her from, if it was a breeder or not. But it’s very common for bunnies to have ear mites when coming from a place where a lot of bunnies are housed. Having her treated for mites would have been something to consider, whether she is exhibiting symptoms or not. Honestly, I doubt this would progress to emergency level in a week. So just keep her appointment and take her to get checked out. They will likely prescribe Revolution.

[DanaNM]

I agree with LBJ10, it sounds like mites are very likely but I think you are OK to wait for your appointment. Revolution is the typical treatment, it works very well and quickly. If it would give you peace of mind, some vets reserve some same day appointments if you call first thing when they open in the morning. Or sometimes they will let you drop off the bun and they will see them when they can. You could try calling right when they open to see if they can get you in. But, they might be saving those spots for emergencies so you still might end up waiting.

Obligatory PSA: never use any product containing fipronil on rabbits, it can be deadly for them.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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